Point Reyes Light - October 14, 2004
Over objections, MMWD set on Valley water tank
By Jim Kravets
Marin Municipal Water District is proceeding with plans to build a 10-million-gallon water-storage tank in Woodacre, district officials told San Geronimo Valley residents last week.
Newly appointed Marin Municipal general manager Paul Helliker and district engineer Dana Roxon told a standing-room-only gathering at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center a site known as "Blueberry" is the district’s chosen location for the tank.
The evening, a special event organized by the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group, gave Valley residents details about a $12 million project, which would bury a 40-foot deep, by 100-foot-wide, by 300-foot-long concrete tank in Woodacre.
The site for the water tank, which will be approximately the size of a football field, is "highly visible" many Valley residents said.
Planning Group directors have said they’re not convinced that the district needs to build such a huge tank, that it needs to be at the Blueberry site, or (for that matter) that it needs to be in the Valley at all.
Marin Municipal staff said here’s what the new tank would do:
• Enable the district to replace the 86-year-old Pine Mountain Tunnel, which is currently being used for water-storage. The tunnel is leaking and its continued use could impair water quality. A new tank would enable the district to meet current and future water-quality regulations.
• Improve MMWD’s water-distribution system by providing storage large enough for variations in demand.
• During a blackout, the gravity-flow tank could be tapped by households, businesses, and fire hydrants. Because of the tank’s proposed elevation, no electrical pumping would be needed.
The overall reduction in pumping, in turn, could save the district $50,000 in electric bills each year, engineer Roxon said. "We’re already the biggest electricity user in the county," noted general manager Helliker. "Our yearly power bill is $3.5 million."
The crowd of more than 100 were opposed to Marin Municipal’s plan for the tank, and for three hours, an unruffled Roxon responded to sharp questions and comments, explaining the district’s rationale.
"Why are all the sites you choose [to consider] in the Valley?" asked Rick Haber of Lagunitas. "If Ross Valley is going to be using this water, then they should have to take some of the hit. If that means more cost to them, then that should be considered. You chose the Valley because we’re simply the cheapest solution."
‘Not a parochial issue’
"This is not an attempt to ding the [San Geronimo] Valley," Roxon replied. "This is not a parochial issue. The Blueberry site is favored by staff because we can mitigate the visual impact. It’s not the cheapest site, but it can be completely landscaped, and we chose it over a cheaper site which would be more visible."
Roxon explained that for gravity-flow reasons, the tank would have to be west of a "Fairfax transmission line," a 1970s pipeline built at great expense beside the crest of White’s Hill. "I’m not sure why they chose to put [the Fairfax transmission line] there 30 years ago, but we’re stuck with the current pipelines," Roxon said. "We have to make it work with what we’ve got."
Before choosing Blueberry, Roxon said, the district considered eight sites, seven in the Valley and one just east of White’s Hill. "The other sites," Roxon said, "were unfeasible for hydrologic or geologic reasons – or the site was just too small.
Problems with other sites
The district’s second choice was a site on the north side of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard near Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Constructing the tank on that site, Roxon said, would be far easier and less expensive than at the Blueberry site. But, he added, unlike the Blueberry site, where the tank could be completely buried, a tank at the Spirit Rock site "would be visible for anyone on [Sir Francis Drake Boulevard] heading in either direction. There’s no way to cover it up there. There’s nothing for us to plant trees on. At the Blueberry site, the long-term [visual] impacts would be zero."
Roxon said a "temporary haul road" for construction vehicles would have to be built to the Blueberry site from San Geronimo Valley Road. The road would be 12 to 18 feet wide.
One district plan shows the road zig-zagging through ranchland owned by George Flanders. "The road would be constructed out of fill material from the site, [and the material] would then be removed when the tank is completed," he said. "The native soil would remain underneath and scarring could be minimized."
Traffic during construction
Planning Group members have estimated the excavation would require 5,000 to 7,000 truckloads (if each averaged 24 tons) on the temporary road, the equivalent of one truck trip every five minutes for 2.5 months.
Valley residents complained that construction noise and dust, as well as increased traffic, would be substantial and questioned the impact on coho salmon in Lagunitas Creek.
How would the district prevent non-native plant species from taking over where the land is disturbed? Roxon replied that the district won’t abandon the community once the project is done. "We’re not going away," he said. Roxon said that an environmental impact report will in all likelihood be part of the planning process.
Landscaping will hide tank
Helliker added that the district will do a "vegetation-management plan .... We’re experienced with that. We’ll have biologists onsite. You have my assurance that native species will stay on the site."
Notwithstanding the district’s assurances, some in the room were put off that a Valley ridgeline – that the community had protected from development – was the chosen site.
"You make all good arguments for the tank," Jean Berensmeier of Lagunitas told MMWD staff, "but I oppose it. The project is all wet. In the 1977 Community Plan, we preserved the ridges for our needs, not for MMWD .... We got stuck with the San Geronimo Valley Water Treatment Plant. We’ve done our share. MMWD didn’t do the advance planning necessary to avoid this, so now it’s on our backs."
"We’re here tonight to be part of planning process," manager Helliker responded. "Our goal is to protect the ridgeline and to keep it looking the same way it does."
Engineer Roxon said that after the tank is constructed and buried, the ridge will be largely unchanged. "It will be slightly flatter than it is now, slightly wrinkled. It will look like a rolling meadow."
Just not acceptable
Under no circumstances, would the Blueberry tank be acceptable, some Valley resident said. "I really liked your presentation," Michael Chadwick of Woodacre told MMWD staff. "It’s totally reasonable, and technically I have no problem with it. But as a resident of Woodacre, I’m totally opposed to it. And I will attend every meeting so that it doesn’t happen. I don’t know what legal procedures are, but we just don’t want it in the Valley."
When Helliker asked why, Chadwick responded, "I don’t want big trucks on the ridge. It just doesn’t feel right. Your decision is on rational grounds." But based on his perspective as a Valley resident, Chadwick said, "you’re just going to have to find somewhere else. That’s all."
The access road would be built across the Flanders’ ranch, and Georege Flanders complained, "This will create another severance through my ranch. I’ve been through enough condemnation suits, and I don’t want that."
Eminent domain
Roxon explained that the district has the right to build on private property without the landowners’ consent. "If push comes to shove [Marin Municipal] has the power of eminent domain. We can condemn land in Marin and Sonoma County. Our board of directors trumps the county Board of Supervisors."
"It sounds like you’re just going to do it," Ruth Falk of Woodacre said, "and we don’t have the expertise to comment. What if the community simply doesn’t want it?"
"It will be a short-term disturbance," Roxon replied, "but it will benefit everyone in Marin, and someone has to make that decision."
One Valley resident expressed a common sentiment when he said, "I came tonight thinking this would be a forum for public comment. But I’m leaving with the feeling not a single piece of input was received [by the district]."
"All of your concerns about the project’s construction will be addressed," replied Roxon, "but your parochial turf wars can’t be addressed."
Another confab expected
The community will have another opportunity for arguing against the tank when staff make their recommendation to MMWD’s board of directors, but the date for that presentation has not been determined.
Many in the audience expressed disappointment that Director Jared Huffman, who represents the Valley on the MMWD board, failed to show up for the meeting. "He bailed on us," said one Valley resident. Huffman was reportedly at home with a sick child.
In compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, the next step, Helliker said, is for the district to hire an environmental consultant. "Following an initial study which includes public outreach, we’ll make the decision to go forward with a Negative Declaration [of environmental impact] or an environmental-impact report."
Commenting on the residents’ lack of power to change the tank proposal, San Geronimo Planning Group chairman Ken Naffziger asked Roxon if, "as the lead agency in an EIR, does it ultimately fall to MMWD to decide what problems you do and don’t want to address?"
"Yes," Roxon replied. "That decision falls with the lead agency."
Directors of the San Geronimo Valley Planning group met Monday night and resolved to oppose the district’s plans. Details of their campaign will be published in an upcoming issue.